Melissa's Mission Impossible/Mail Order Monster — Linda Joy Singleton

MELISSA'S MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: SECRET MISSION... Melissa is in deep trouble if she doesn't make the best mission project in her 4th grade class. Popsicle sticks, cardboard, wood, styrofoam, molding clay--all great materials for building a scale-model of a historical mission, but not good enough for Melissa. When she writes to the mission, she receives printed information -- and a mysteirous medallion in the mail. Melissa wonders who the antique gold medallion belongs to. Did a padre wear it hundreds of years ago? Why did someone send it to her? Melissa follows a trail of clues that lead her to a surprising discovery at a ghostly graveyard. With the project due in just two days, Melissa has a startling idea. Mission impossible: SOLVED. [Note: This book can also be a fun resource for educators teaching about historical Spanish missions. Intriguing facts are woven into the mystery, and at the end readers are challenged to figure out which of the 21 California missions Melissa made.] MAIL ORDER MONSTER: There are three rules to follow when place a mail-order: #1. Never sign your name in blood-red ink #2. Never fail to read the small print. #3. Never EVER order from a company of monsters. But Skye Jones is SO eager for a special friend, she ignores the rules and mail-orders a monstrous friend named Hobbi. When Hobbi" braids twirl and her colored fingernails flash, WATCH OUT! Flying unicorns spring alive, paper airplanes declare war, and jump ropes slither into snakes. Hobbi turns Skye's life from deadly into dangerous. Can a human and a fiend become friends? Or will Sky find a way to break the magical contract that binds Hobbi to her forever?